Paths Less Taken
by Tora Marikama
Summary: A collection of one shots based off of my Next Generation Series or, the prequel to "Light the Way" .


Disclaimer: I don't own 9.

Learn to see

Summary: 9 might have wanted a perfect world for his creations, but that wasn't the case for the A's.

* * *

"Careful, don't put too much or you're going to make a mess!"

It was a perfect day. The kind where only a few clouds drifted along and you could feel the warmth of the sun on your back. Everything was lush, green and reborn from the winter's harsh chill: The perfect kind of day to start a new project.

"I know what I'm doing, A8. Don't you have anyone else to bother?" Gowned A1 as his brother hung over his shoulder.

A1 was made from a sock, of all things, and a piece of Velcro held him shut. A red line ran just below his shoulders, where the word "HANES" could be read. Squeezing around his grey head was a clamp with a piece of lens and makeshift flashlight attached to an extended arm which was currently pulled back.

A1 was a medic, and very proud of it.

A8, was a mechanic.

The younger stitchpunk was made with baby blue plissé fabric and had a set of plastic white snap buttons. A8 fastened himself a tool belt, with holsters and pockets for the various tools that he toted around.

Despite the fact that there occupations were so similar, or maybe because of it, they just couldn't get along.

A1 carefully placed a brick down, and the naturally made cement seeped out and dripped down the wall.

"I told you so---ack! A8 jumped back in surprise when clay was splattered into his face.

"Hey, don't make me separate you two!" yelled A2 mockingly as he approached with A6.

A1 flickered his eyes in annoyance. The burlap and red velvet doll always had to bud into everything. "You sound like Creator."

"I wouldn't have to quote 9 if you would just listen for once and stop antagonizing each other long enough to get some work done." A1 turned his back to A2 in a huff and started lathering up the next section of the wall. It made him so mad when A2 treated him like a child.

"I'll…leave these here for you." A1 saw A6 put her load of sun dried bricks down out of the corner of his eye. She was large and more muscular then the rest, which made A1 wonder sometimes if 9 even intended for her to be a she in the first place.

A6 was made with purple denim that strapped together with a pair of buckles at her shoulders, like a pair of overalls. The oddly colored denim was such a rare find that it became what would be later known as 9's first gift. The bright, unusual color contrasted nicely with the black leather of her upper body. For extra support, her flap had a metal button on either side, marked with the phrase, "Levi strauss & Co" (whatever that meant…).

A6's fabric and body build suited her hobby well; metal welding. They had already set up a little smithy for her. She had been so excited and eager to try it out that she melted down some metal and crafted new tools to help the construction move along.

"Morning!"

The gathered dolls turned and waved to their sisters, A3 and A4 as they skipped by, A3 dragging a small barrel with Wheels attached to it.

A1 couldn't keep the goofy smile off his face. A3 and A4 were absolutely adorable. A3 was a short, cream flannel doll. Sewn into her flaps were round magnet disks that 9 cut out of a purse. Her favorite orange cloth was tied around her waist, and a blue checkered handkerchief tied around her head.

Standing at the average height, A4's fabric was a mocha worsted fabric. She had a pair of blue shank buttons and curls of brown yarn flowing over her shoulders.

"Where are you going?" called out A2.

A4 chuckled, "To collect fluffy stuff! A3 is going to make me a dress!" By fluffy stuff, she meant the odd blue fluff that a certain plant released its seeds through. 3 and 4 guessed it was some sort of wild, mutated/evolved cousin of the cotton plant.

"So the machines are working fine?" asked A8. He had recently made two processors for A3, one that would remove the seeds from the fluffy blue plant growth, and the other to turn said fluffy stuff into thread that could be weaved into cloth.

"I don't know. I haven't gotten the chance to use them yet. I'll let you know when I do," answered A3.

A1 watched his sisters until he couldn't see them through the plant growth.

"Serves you right."

"What?" A1 faced A8 in confusion.

"The clay dried up, moron. That's what you get for getting all goo goo eyed at our _sisters_." hissed A8. He didn't like the idea of having a relationship with someone from their generation. Despite the fact that they wouldn't face any inbreeding issues, it felt wrong to him to have such feelings for someone they had known since creation.

Doing a good imitation of blushing from embarrassment, A1 stuttered, "So? 9 and 7 are…together. There's nothing wrong with it."

A2 thrust a brick into the blue doll's hands before he could retort. "Don't, A8. Less fighting, more working."

"I know I'm probably just being paranoid, but…was that there before?" The others looked in the direction A6 was facing, and noticed the odd lumps in the soft dirt.

"That…doesn't look natural," commented A1.

"It's probably nothing. Come on A6, let's see if that other set of bricks is ready. I want to be finished with this before A5, A7 and A9 return." A2 and A6 started to walk off, and A8 shrugged off the odd formation in the ground, but A1 continued to stare at it.

Suddenly the lumps moved, one circled around them, the other heading away from them on a straight course. A1 jumped and screamed in shock, drawing the attention of the other stitch punks.

"It MOVED!" he pointed a metal finger at the now motionless lump. "It…it freaking moved."

A8 moved closer, watching the lump suspiciously. He grabbed the tool A1 had been using to spread the clay out and threw it at the bump. The four dolls recoiled, ready to take action, but nothing happened.

A8 broke the tense silence with a laugh, "It's probably just a bug rearranging its home!"

The sock doll grumbled and went to get his tool back, though he made sure to walk around the strange formation. He bent down—and screamed when something latched around his outstretched arm.

His siblings were there in an instant, trying to help pull him loose. A1 screamed shrilly in pain when the metal clasp that clung to him tightened and crushed his arm. By the time A2 managed to slice the clasp away from its owner, it was too late.

A1 fell down and stared at the remaining stub of his arm in disbelief, his eyes wide in fear. He was in shock, unable to move or watch as A6 plunged a hand into the soft soil where the lump had retreated to and drag the monstrosity out.

A2 placed his scythe, his favorite weapon, at its neck while A6 and A2 held it still and sliced the head off.

The medic was still in shock, starring at the ground, when realization hit. He yelled to the others, "Where is the other one?! There were two—"

He was cut off by a scream, and the three dolls took off running. A1 struggled to get up, forgetting for a moment that he only had one arm to push himself up with. He chased after the others, though A2 yelled at him to go back, that he wouldn't be able to help in his current condition.

The second Beast had drug itself out and A3 was doing a fine job at defending herself. A2 leapt at the creature and stabbed it through the back. It collapsed with a cry and struggled for a few seconds until A3 dealt the final blow.

They all remained silent, motionless, trying give there processors a chance to catch up with them. This beast was different from the one that they fought just moment before. Long, sharp arms, so similar to A2's scythe that it was creepy, and unnatural metal tusks attached to the skull of its head.

A1 took note of the other dolls, making mental list of everything he needed to fix; A6 was favoring her left arm, A8 had a gash on his side from when he had been helping pin down the first beast, and A3 had quite collection of cu--

"Where is A4?" It was A8 that asked.

A3 looked away, refusing to make eye contact with them, and pointed to a clump of grass. They rushed to it, and A6 pulled the still body out so that it was in view.

A1 covered his mouth, and his eyes tightened shut.

She was torn up badly. Her whole face was shredded to ribbons, her chest slashed open…

"…poor A4…" whispered someone sadly. He didn't know who.

A1 finally opened his eyes, fell to his knees and placed a hand on her chest, his whole body shaking badly.

He froze; his eyes constricted to the point that they were nothing but a tiny black speck. He quickly placed his hand against her open palm and cried out, "A4?! A4, can you hear me?

A2 tried to pull the sock doll away and whispered, "A1, don't. She's…gone."

But from the broken body came a weak moan. The others gasped in surprise and exchanged looks of astonishment and joy.

"Don't speak. I want you to squeeze my hand if you can hear me," demanded A1. There was a moment of silence, with no motion, where hope and grief fought for control amongst the gathered dolls. And just when sorrow was about to win…

…The wooden and metal hand closed around A1's. If he had been human, A1 would have started crying in relief. "Good girl. Just hang in there, alright?"

"H…huuur…rrs." A1 winced at the mangled word.

"I told you not to talk. I'll make it stop, okay? You need to let go, though." A1 slipped his hand out of sister's, pulled open his Velcro and took out a little metal clip.

He reached carefully into A4's head, knowing exactly what he was looking for, and used the clip to pinch one of the wires. The arm that A4 reached out with in search of A1 fell.

"It should be safe to move her now."

As if broken from a trance, A6 cradled her sister against her chest and walked back to their home.

"A1…if it helps…" A3 removed her bandana and skirt and thrust the material into A1's hand. He nodded warily in thanks, knowing that he had a long night ahead.

* * *

A1 collapsed into a chair, his eyes closed. He had worked restlessly for days, non-stop. He couldn't rest until his siblings were mended.

The sock doll sat up and looked A4 over, who was laid out on a table next to where he sat.

A stitch ran up her right cheek, right next to her mouth, another one ran out of the other side of her lip flaps. What remained of her curly yarn had to be removed because it kept getting in his way, and in its place was an orange patch. A corner sneaked down her forehead, the tip resting just under the checkered cloth that was tied over where her eyes should have been.

He heard the door creaked open and quickly stood. He was expecting A3 to come by with a request that he made. But instead of his sister, it was his baby blue plissé brother.

A8 looked around nervously as he said in a soft, regretful voice, "I'm sorry. It's my fault you were hurt--- I should have believed you."

"Don't. You don't need to---"

"I do. This is for you." A1 was taken aback by the wrapped object held out for him, smiled at the kind gesture and motioned for A1 to put it down on his messy desk. He pulled the paper away carefully and blinked in surprise at what he found.

"I was actually making it for myself, but you need it more so I fixed it…so it could replace your missing arm." A8 showed him how the hand on the mechanical arm could collapse, fold up inside of the arm, and a tool could be pulled out to take its place, much like a Swiss army knife.

It was a bit on the chunky side, but A8 had built it to the perfect length, and the connection piece at the end would make attaching it fairly easy. The inbuilt tools would help him with accuracy and he wouldn't have to carry so much surgical equipment with him anymore. To put it in human terms, he felt like a child that just got the coolest Christmas present ever.

At a loss for words, A1 hugged his brother in thanks.

"Does this mean your bickering days are over?"

The brothers pulled away from each other in surprise and embarrassment. A8 glowered at A3 in the door way and grumbled "No, I still think he's a moron!" and stomped out.

A3 smiled and shrugged, "Oh well, so much for wishful thinking."

"Did you finish it?" asked the medic excitedly.

She hesitated, but handed her bundle over anyway, "…Yeah, about that... I haven't had the time to make any new material, so I had to use whatever I could find, mostly left over scraps from the repairs."

A1 soul twisted in pain. She disserved better. She was already torn and raggedy looking as it was. But when he unfolded the material, his jaw fell open in awe. It looked like a quilt, like the one from one of the twin's old books. It was made out of neatly cut squares that fallowed along in a pattern and was trimmed with a piece of lace.

The sock doll folded it back up and pat A3's arm with a quiet, "Thank you".

A1 ran to A4's side and traced the hideous stitching on his sister's body. He hated the way it looked. He didn't want anyone to look at those intertwining stitches and be reminded of what they almost lost. A4 didn't need to be pitied for the rest of her life. And besides, she had been waiting a long time for a dress.

He carefully lifted her legs up and slipped the dress on, pulling it until I rested under her arms. Taking out a pre-threaded, doll sized needle (courtesy of A6), he started to work when A4 cried out, "What are you doing? I thought you finished."

He pulled the needle back out, "Not quiet. We need to get your new dress sewn on."

Gasping in surprise, she grabbed the material and traced the pattern excitedly. "She finished my dress?!"

"Stop moving around." He scorned half heartedly, but she continued her search and found the end of the dress.

"Lace?! She found lace for me? Oh, I love it!" squealed A4 in delight.

"Knock it off!" he placed the needle down for a moment and slapped her hands away, "You can feel it when I'm done."

A few stitches later A1 announced, "9 is here. He's going to make you a new pair of eyes."

"I know. He was in here earlier."

A1 looked up in surprise. His creator was supposed to wait for him. And if he had been there, why was A4 still lacking eyes? Well, 9 could have just wanted to visit first, announce his gift. Yeah, that made since… "What happened?"

A4 smiled and stated proudly, "I told him no."

"YOU WHAT?!"

A1 dropped the needle and let it dangle from A4's side.

"I don't need it. I can see more now." She reached out and grabbed A1's remaining stub, "we can see more."

The sock doll stood dumb struck for a minute. He looked over his shoulder at his new arm, still resting on the cluttered desk, and understood.

9 just saw this as nearly losing his creations. He was too overprotective at times; its why 7 forced him to send them away in the first place. But to them, this wasn't a tragedy. After the initial shock, they didn't look back and weep. They immediately started making repairs and plans to protect themselves in the future. Wasn't there a human saying or something that went like, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"?

He understood. If 9 tried to give him his old arm back, he would probably recline too. Because this experience, this new arm, would make him stronger.

A1 placed his hand on A4's shoulder and whispered back, "we do see more."

* * *

Author note: I love how this turned out...for everyone who was wondering about A4. And both she and A1 will be makeing reaperances in sequeals to come. Next will be the B generation.


End file.
